Chronology of NKorea's nuclear, missile programs

This Saturday Dec. 8, 2012 satellite image provided by GeoEye and annotated by 38 North, shows recent activity at the Sohae rocket launching facility in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. An analysis written for 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korean Institute at John Hopkins Advanced International Studies, predicted it's likely to take until Dec. 12-13 to remove the Unha-3 rocket and more than a week to repair it, meaning a launch is unlikely before Dec. 21-22. (AP Photo/GeoEye, 38 North, North Korea Tech)

July 14, 2007: North Korea shuts down main Yongbyon nuclear reactor, later starts disabling it.

Sept. 19, 2008: North Korea says it will restore atomic reactor.

Oct. 11, 2008: U.S. removes North Korea from list of states that sponsor terrorism.

April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket. Two of three stages push rocket over Pacific but third stage fails. Despite North Korea's claims of success, no satellite reaches orbit, U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command says.

Feb. 29, 2012: North Korea announces moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in food aid deal with U.S.

March 16, 2012: North Korea announces plan to launch rocket in April to put scientific satellite into orbit.

April 13, 2012: North Korea launches long-range rocket from west coast site. Rocket fizzles shortly after liftoff. Pyongyang acknowledges failure. United States announces it will not carry out food aid deal with North Korea.

April 19, 2012: North Korea says it has figured out cause of failure and pledges to continue rocket launches as part of space program.

Dec. 1, 2012: North Korea declares intention to launch another long-rage rocket mounted with satellite between Dec. 10 and 22.

Dec. 9, 2012: North Korea announces extension of launch window to Dec. 29 due to an unidentified technical deficiency in rocket.

Dec. 12, 2012: North Korea launches long-range rocket that puts satellite in orbit in just 10 minutes. The U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command says North Korea appears to have put object in space.